Showing posts with label CONNOISSEUR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CONNOISSEUR. Show all posts

Saturday, 4 July 2015

The Sludgelord Sour 16 for June 2015

Welcome to The Sludgelord’s Sour 16. Each month, you the reader are unwittingly compiling a list of the top 16 records of the month, covering all genres of metal, but predominately the best the doom, sludge, stoner-psychedelic genres have to offer.
Is it chart? Not really.  It is merely the 16 records you guys have been most interested in over the last month and you have been checking out on this very page.

So here is the The Sludgelord Sour 16 for June 2015, the 16 records you’re most looking forward too or are currently checking out.  Check em out, spread the word and perhaps revisit some records you may have overlooked.  

The results are compiled based on page views alone and calibrated into the list below. So without further ado, this is the Sour 16. So until next month, roll up, kick back, chug a beer and Hail the riff! All review links, are held under the artwork.   



16).      GodSleep – ‘Thousand Sons of Sleep’ (249)

“Thousand Sons of Sleep” is a deep and complex record with a lot to offer.’




15).      Oxen – ‘The Vanishing’ (260)

‘The Vanishing’ demands your full attention as it's one of the years most exciting and thrilling debut albums you're likely to come across.’





14).      Nightslug – ‘Loathe’ (262)

‘It’s a hellacious racket from moment one, but it’s also exceedingly catchy and memorable.’





13).      OHHMS – ‘Cold’ EP (265)

‘Cold is a brilliant record and stands out as a potential Album/EP of the year.’





12).      Sons of Huns – ‘While Sleep Stay Awake’ (281)

‘Sons of Huns set themselves apart from the competition by taking influences from the past but making their music sound current and vital instead of a lifeless recreation.’





11).      Connoisseur – ‘Stone Violence’ (277)

‘Imagine if you will, Hatebreed if they were pissed off about a bad weed supply’





10).      Grusom – ‘Grusom’ (290)

This is a very cohesive debut




09).      Lo! – ‘The Tongueless’ EP (294)

‘At once both heavy and sparse, dense and expansive, they are a hardcore paradox that make music that is a true experience.’




08).      Church – ‘Unanswered Hymns’ (296)

’With a very solid debut elegantly combining all the main elements of a great doom record, Church truly might already have themselves one of the genre’s opera magna.’





07).      Death Alley – ‘Black Magick Boogieland’ (297)

‘There are riffs the size of continents flying by; the vocals take full advantage of their role, and the band gels, jams, and jives.’





06).      Ommadon – ‘Empathy for the Wicked’ (309)

‘If being bombarded with sludgy evil riffs is your thing...or getting absolutely pulverized and driven into the pavement by colossal thundering drums until your body collapses, this release is perfect for you.’




05).      Goatsnake – ‘Black Age Blues’ (313)

‘There can be no doubt that this record will feature on many end of year lists and deservedly so.’




04).      Rosetta – ‘Quintessential Ephemera (321)

‘The whole album is expansive and ethereal in its delivery and production’





03).      Lightsabres – ‘Beheaded’ (332)

‘Beheaded is a full-throttle, kick-ass Stoner Rock record’






02).      Sacri Monti – ‘Sacri Monti’ (396)

‘This album is an exciting psychedelic ride from start to finish’




01).      High on Fire – ‘Luminiferous (589)

‘This album is so fucking good, if you do not get it, you are a dum dum’




Sunday, 7 June 2015

CONNOISSEUR - Stoner Violence (Album Review)


Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: June 09th 2015
Label: Tankcrimes

Stoner Violence - Track Listing:

1.Circle Of Heads 03:18
2.Pot Hole 00:55
3.The Camper 00:25
4.No Dice 00:25
5.Full Blown Marijuana Addict 03:44
6.I Am The Weed 01:40
7.(Destroy The) Smoke Machines 04:40
8.Sweet Buddies 01:13
9.Brick Weed 00:23
10.Machinegun Grenade 00:19
11.Orc Summer 02:01
12.New Amsterdam 03:28
13.Smells Like Teen Dispirit 01:18
14.Ashes 07:17

Bio:

Likening themselves to Earth Crisis if they “smoked weed and listened to Spazz,” the Smokeland, California-based trio, CONNOISSEUR, deafens the weak with an upbeat/d-beat barrage of West Bay powerviolence packed with resin-coated sludgedowns and chronically brutal, comically cheeba-charged vocal onslaughts that consume the listener in a violently stoned, inescapable haze.

Band Members:

Dan: guitar
Carlos: vocals
Lyle: drums

Review:

From the glorious artwork, the album name, the title of pretty much all the songs and from paying a visit or two to the bands Facbeook page, I think it's fair to say that Connoisseur are a band that have enjoyed the odd jazz cigarette in their time. This is very much a stoner's record, but what it's not is another typical record from the huge array of BongWitchMountainGoat bands that appear to be cropping up here there and everywhere at present.

As the first track "Circle Of Heads" comes leaping out of the blocks it's apparent that this isn't going to be another typical weed themed record. Starting with an almost punk approach the guitars and drums take off at a break neck pace and pretty much stay there. More of the same during the minute long second track "Pot Hole" as the drums build into a wall of double bass and tom fills. More of the same on the next track "The Camper". The first time I listened to the record the song had ended before I even realised it had begun!

Not until we hit the track "Full Blown Marijuana Addict" (another subtle reference!) do we see Connoisseur slow things down. A little. In fact the next two tracks "I Am The Weed" and "(Destroy the) Smoke Machine both keep the tempo a little slower, and to my mind both have an almost hardcore feel to them. Imagine if you will Hatebreed if they were pissed off about a bad weed supply, rather than, well.. whatever it is they are actually pissed off about.

The next three tracks, "Sweet Buddies" "Brick Weed" and "Machinegun Grenade" revert to the more punk approach of the first few tracks. In fact so punk that these three songs barely manage a minute combined. This is a seriously quick and aggressive record. As the tempos build the vocals become more and more enraged to the point where I actually had to stop listening to this in enclosed spaces for fear of what I might do. As we move towards the conclusion of the record Connoisseur play about with tempos a bit more and switch between the frenetic punk energy of the earlier tracks and the more deliberate pounding rhythms from the middle section.

Last track "Ashes" is a little different. Clocking in at a touch over 7 minutes it shows a slightly more patient approach to things. Largely instrumental bar some samples at the start it's a bold and confident way to close the album. I'm unsure if that's what they intended or were just so high they forgot to stop playing after the 2 minute mark. Either way it works for me and closes an excellent record.

I loved the production throughout the record, balancing a fine line between polished yet raw which gives the whole thing a nice live feel to it. Not a band I was familiar with before and maybe not a record I would have sought out to listen to, but after living with this for a while they've definitely made a new fan in me.

Words by Simon Ross Williams

Thanks To Earsplit PR or the promo. Stoner Violence is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from Tankcrimes from June 9th 2015

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